A mobile telephone (commonly, “mobile phone” or “cell phone”) is a long-range, portable electronic device used for mobile communication. In addition to the standard voice function of a telephone, current mobile phones can support many additional services such as short message service (SMS) for text messaging, e-mail, packet switching for access to the Internet, and multi-media messaging service (MMS) for sending and receiving photos and video. An example of a mobile phone is a dual-mode phone which performs as a cell phone when outside of a user's residence or beyond a wireless local area network connection and as a voice over IP (VoIP) phone when within a user's residence or within a wireless local area network connection.
Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) technology is used for mobile phone communications. GSM is a well established standard that offers reliable and portable services but provides little remote management features for mobile phones. Furthermore, users of GSM based devices are typically required to physically visit a communications service provider to perform various mobile phone configuration tasks.
Telecommunication companies that provide mobile phone services sometimes provide other communication services for use with customer premises equipment (CPE) located at a customer premises. The CPE may include, for example, land-line telephones, wireless gateways, and computers. The services provided by the telecommunication companies in connection with the CPE may include, for example, home telephone service, VoIP, and broadband Internet access, such as via digital subscriber line (DSL) and/or cable modem technology. Managing both CPE and mobile phones as part of an integrated system can be complicated since CPE and mobile phones are typically accessed via different communication networks and using different communication technologies.